Costa Rica Cafetalera Herbazu

[caption id="attachment_817" align="alignnone" width="462" caption="Cafelatera Herbazu, Villa Sarchi Cultivar"][/caption]
We were looking over which new-arriving coffees were most popular, and which were selling slower, and I was shocked to see that Herbazu wet-process was a laggard. Shocked! Anyway, looking at sales, or promoting a coffee because it isn't ripping off the shelves is all foreign to me. It's more "businessy" than SM, but the idea that poor Herbazu isn't popular hurt a little bit. It's like someone calling your child ugly. It's not right. Is it the name? Sounds herbal? Is it the fact it is a super clean, bright classic Costa Rica, which is less interesting than the newer, more exotic Miel-processed coffees like Finca Genesis? I roasted some Herbazu samples and put them in the daily cupping lineup against some other Central Americas, Honduras, Guatemala, etc. Stunning coffee. Dynamic, sweet in the aroma, citric, zesty, palate-cleansing. Surprising was how the slightly darker FC roast cupped. Rindy orange notes were sweeter than the light roast, with a darker berry fruit underlaying the piquant citrus. It's great coffee. It's a 90 point cup for sure.
Anyway, the normal mode here is to simply "do what I do" and not look at what sells, etc. The idea is to buy great lots from each origin, to identify a great farm, work with them, and just tell the story of the coffee and the cup. That's it, to let your palate lead you to great coffees, and buy with your heart. Maybe I should just ignore the relative popularity of each coffee, and just focus on sourcing the best lots. But, I might ask, if you are considering a bright, classic Central, consider poor Herbazu. I doubt you could possibly find flaw with such a precious coffee. -Tom

[quote]did you happen to see this article on iced-coffee? [/quote]
Yes - I too like hot brewed, although I have not done it direct on ice. I always think an "updosed" Clever, made about 2x strong, then poured over ice makes a great iced coffee.

[quote comment=""]Interesting. Very generally speaking I often wonder if a high score of brightness/acidity in many origins scares many folks off except maybe in something like a Kenyan where it is expected and sought after. Among the few folks I roast for the majority prefer something more middleish. [/quote]
I hear you. For me, high acidity scores are judged at the roast where they are at their peak, lighter than most people might expect. The score also combines quality+quantity so that can be a little deceptive too. In fact a sour-bright acidity might score a little lower ... then again it wouldn't be a coffee I buy. My point is that with brighter coffees, it simply give you the option to make the acidity more moderate with roast level, or curve. I see it as more "raw material" to work with in the coffee, since you can't put anything back in the roast process that isn't there in the green bean.

Interesting. Very generally speaking I often wonder if a high score of brightness/acidity in many origins scares many folks off except maybe in something like a Kenyan where it is expected and sought after. Among the few folks I roast for the majority prefer something more middleish. I do find with time some move upward in their interests in the brighter notes. A rather common comment with a brighter coffee is that it would be a nice dinner coffee but not so much a morning coffee.

[quote comment=""]If you remember to post a comment with your thoughts once you have roasted it, would like to hear them. -t[/quote]
I will do that. Now off to pick my three other choices for five pound bags. By the way, did you happen to see this article on iced-coffee? I gave the hot-brewed method a try using a clever coffee dripper dispensed directly over ice. It was delicious. I usually make drip with a Chemex and pour the last cup over ice after a venti sized cup of hot, but the CCD dispensed after steeping directly over ice was a real treat.

[quote comment=""]I'm due for another 20 lb order. I think I'll go with five pounds of this one. Thanks for the suggestion. :-)[/quote] If you remember to post a comment with your thoughts once you have roasted it, would like to hear them. -t